Community College Layoffs

The layoffs are unnecessary and capricious. They disproportionately hurt minority and women faculty and students. They dismantle programs with a 90% employment rate upon graduation. Worst of all, they are not educationally sound.

My case exemplifies the absurdity of the situation and its proposed “resolution.” While 52 instructors are still laid off, more than 100 are being transferred. I am a tenured instructor in the Psychology Department who received a layoff notice. My letter was rescinded, and now I am being transferred to math. In the meanwhile, a laid-off dental-assisting instructor will be coming to psychology. My 12 years of training and experience in psychology and her 16 years of teaching dental assisting go wasted.

Most clearly it is the students who will suffer the most for this. They will not get the benefit of their instructors’ expertise. In the meanwhile, there will be no alternatives for low-cost training for careers in viable vocations like nursing, optics and dental assisting.

I have seen many students go through my classes who see the community colleges as their second chance. Despite the many obstacles they face, they struggle and persist to higher goals in their lives. They deserve more than a sentence to second-class education.

JUDY CHU

Los Angeles